Communicating Development: Towards Strategic, Inclusive and Creative Approaches

This chapter examines the interplay between media and communication and development within a complex and global context. The blurring of geographical boundaries, the emergence of new media and communication technologies and an increasingly fragile economic and political environment demand sophisticated and yet culture-sensitive approaches to communication. Social issues, previously the domain of governments, are now being integrated into business practices by the private sector as part of their commitments to sustainability and social responsibility. As many scholars (Berry and Kamau, 2013; Couldry et al., 2010; Jamieson and Campbell, 2000) contend, media and communication as processes, structures and technologies shape and influence political and societal discourses. And as such, the role of communication is critical to engendering development and social change. This chapter examines the interplay between media and communication and development within a complex and global context. The blurring of geographical boundaries, the emergence of new media and communication technologies and an increasingly fragile economic and political environment demand sophisticated and yet culture-sensitive approaches to communication. Social issues, previously the domain of governments, are now being integrated into business practices by the private sector as part of their commitments to sustainability and social responsibility. As many scholars (Berry and Kamau, 2013; Couldry et al., 2010; Jamieson and Campbell, 2000) contend, media and communication as processes, structures and technologies shape and influence political and societal discourses. And as such, the role of communication is critical to engendering development and social change.